Means of operating railroads by cables



4 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

J. STEWART.. MEANS FOR OPERATING RAILROADS BY CABLES.

Patented Oct. 5, 1886.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.A

J. STEWART.

MEANS POR OPERATING RAILROADS BY CABLES.

No. 350,168. Patented Oct. 5, 1886.,

N. PETERS, Pnawukhngmphu. washington. D, c.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. STEWART.

MEANS FOB. OPERATING RAILROADS BY CABLES.

(No Model.) 4 vSheets-Sheet 4.

J. STEWART.

MEANS FDR OPERATING RAILROADS BY CABLES. No. 350,168. Patented Oct. 5,1886.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

JOHN STElVAItT, OF N EVAItK, NFV JERSEY.

MEANS OF OPERATINGYRAILROADS BY CABLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 350,168, dated October5,1886.

Application filed February G, 1986.

To all w27/.0721, it 71mg/ concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN STEWART, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Meansof Operating Railroads by Cables; and I do hereby dcclare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,sufficient to enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My improvements relate to what is known as the cable 7 system ofoperating railroads, in which the cars are propelled by endlesstraveling cables actuated by means of'a stationary engine or othersource of power.

Heretot'ore the cars while stationary have been attached to the cablewhile the latter traveled continuously, as is usually the case, at aspeed of about ten miles an hour. Consequently the. severe andsuddenstrain and the resulting wear and friction upon both cable and grippingdevice have formed a serious obstacle to the practicability of suchsystem.

I obviate this difficulty entirely by, and the main feature of myinvention consists in, the use of an auxiliary cable at or between eachstation or terminus, to which the car may be attached while both car andcable are stationary. and which is adapted to then impart to the caraspeed equal to that of the main cable, or cable between stations,preparatory to the transferof the car to and its connection with thesaid main orintermediate cable or to the next succeedingintermediatecable. It is obvious that by this means the friction and wearoccasionedheretofore by reason of the slipping ofthe cable through thegripping device upon the car during the process of gripping, and whichcontinued until the car had acquired the same speed asthat of the cable,is avoided.

Attempts have been made to mitigate the friction and sudden strainconsequent upon attachinga stationary car to a moving cable by providingthe gripping device with bearing-surtaces in the form of rollers whichwould revolve with the cable until the car had acquired the same speedas the cable but such gripping devices are expensive and complicated andliable to derangement and breakage, and while I do not confine myself toany Serial No. 191,010. (No model.)

particular form of grip, since the above designated grip with rotatablebearing surfaces may be used, as might any other form, in connectionwith my system, still a resulting feature of my method of connecting thecar and cable when they are relatively at or near the same speed is thata comparatively simple ri gi d forni of cla-mp orgrip which is cheap anddura- 6o ble may be employed without injury to the cable, a result notheretofore attained.

I am also aware that a comparatively slowmoving cable has been utilizedto give motion to a car preparatory to its transfer to a cable movingstill faster; butin such case both cables have a continuous uniformmotion with relation to each other, and the shock and strain of startingare simply divided between the two cables, whereas by myinventiou thecars are 7o attached to the starting-cable while the latter is at rest,the power is gradually but quickly applied until both car and cableattain the full speed of the main eable,when the transfer is effectedwithoutjar or strain.

I am aware that a somewhat similar result has been attained bythe useofsteam-locomotives, by which motion equal to that of the carrying-cableis imparted to the cars before they are attached thereto, and I do notclaim, So broadly, equalizing the speed of the car and cable beforeattachment, but confine myself to the special means hereinafterdescribed, consisting, essentially, in the use, with the main cable, olfan auxiliary or starting cable provided with suitable mechanism,substantially such as described, for stopping and starting itindependent of the main cable, and causing it to attain a speed equal tothe latter for the purpose of gradually starting and imparting a 9oprescribed speed to cars provided with suitable cable-grippingmechanism.

By the use of my auxiliary cables at the terminus of the line I am alsoenabled to dispense with the use of locomotives or other similarcontrivances for shifting and transferring the cars, te., from one trackto the other, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In conjunction with the auxiliary starting or transfer cables abovereferred to myinven- 10o tion also includes a method of bringing thegripping device into or out of positionwith relation to the cable atprescribed positions by mea-ns of suitable curves formed in the trackcoinciding with the positionsof the drivingpulleys, in such manner as tocause the said gripping device to pass to one side of the upper portionof the latter during the transfer of the car from one cable to another.the grip under such conditions being released from the cable andreclamped thereto either automatically or byhand. In this connection[ny-invention also includes means fora utomatically stopping one cableand starting the next succeeding intermediate cable by means of thelpassage of the car over the -line when desired, as in the case of athrough-train, vand in like means for stopping and starting a particularcable with which the car may be traveling while the latter is passingaround a comparatively sharp curve in. the road, the grip being in suchcase temporarily loosened from the cable, -either automatically or byhand, before mentioned. It is to be understood in this connection thatby my system it is not necessary will clear them while the car ispassing.

to raise the cable into position with relation to the grip in order topermit of the latter being secured thereto, the grip itself insteadmoving laterally andhorizontally into or out Vof position with relationthereto, and being controlled in this respect by curves or variations inthe positions ofthe tracks as compared with the uniform and prescribedposition of the cable. This is an important and distinguishing featureof my invention asi compared with all other systems of which I am aware,in which latter the cable has invariably to be elevated vertically intoposition within the grip preparatory to the operation of attachment,necessitating the use of sp ecial mech-` anism for this purpose, which Idispense with entirely. Where the curves in the road occurring betweenstations or termini are cimparatively slight and long, so that the carcan safely travel at full speed around them without disconnecting forthe purpose of slowing up, .as is necessary in the ease of the shorterand sharper curves above referred to, I place theidler-pulleys, in whichthe cable runs, horizontally and in positions nearer the shorter side ofthe curve, sov that the grip and cable In providing thus for passingaround curves with out loosening the grip, if desirable the particularsection of cable passing over t-he curve may be made to run permanentlyat a lower speed-than those constituting the main portion of the line bymeans of suitable variations in the size of the pulleys or byintermediate gearinv.

'luy improved system of operation may be adapted, with but slight andunimportant variations, to either surface, elevated, or bridge railroadtraffic, and it is to be understood that I do not confine myself toeither, neither do I confine myself to the special form of meehanismsherein shown for the purpose of illustrating the operation of myinvention, since other forms of grip, friction-clutches, stop-V ping andstarting devices, 83e., may be substituted therefor without materiallydeviating" cars. Fig. 3 is a similar diagram of a section of a cableroad with intermediate stations, illustrating a method-of applying mysystem where the the main `or Apower cables are arranged between the upand down tracks in such manner as to operate cables upv on each trackwhich are intermediate between the stations, and which aresuecessi'vel ybrought into operation as the car proceeds upon its way and then stoppedafter the car has been transferred to the next succeeding cable. Fi g.

Ltis a diagram illustrating the method of reversing the direction ofmotion of the intermediate transfer-cables upon one side of the roadwhen arranged as illustrated in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a diagram of a sectionol' a single track of a cable road with. intermediate stations, showinga modification of the plan illustrated in Fig.A 2. Fig. 6 is a diagramof a section of a cable road with intermediate stations,

showing a modification of the plan illustrated.'

in 3 and 4. '.Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement ofidler-pulleys for the cable in order to allow a car to pass around acurve without disconnecting from the cable.

Fig. 8 is a' side elevation of the Vlower portion;

ofa car and adjoining portions of the cable system, illustrating theslight inclination of -the `upper strand of the cable near the pulle\,'s,

which enables the sustaining-idlers and the lowerportion of the grippingdevice upon the car to pass horizontally underneath the cable intoposition with relation thereto. Fig. 9 is a side elevation of a carattached to one of either the auxiliary or intermediate cables. Fig. 10is an end elevation of the car, &c., shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 1l is a planofa portion of a4 track illustrating means for automatically startingand stopping the cabl es and for automatically tightening or looseningthe grip upon the car, and also showing one of the lateral deviations inthe track for the purpose of shunting the sustaining-idlers and grippingIKO device upon vthe car around the upper portion of the pulleys andreturning the same into position with relation to the next succeedingcable. Fig. 12l is an. end View of the lower portion of a car when thelatter is passing over one of the lateral deviations in the track,showing the grip disconnected and its relation under such conditions tothe upper portion'of the cable-pulleys; Fig. 13, a similar view illus-`trating a means for automatically tightening the grip. Fig. 14 is aview showing a side elevation of means for automatically stopping andstarting the cables and tightening the grip. Figs. 15 and 16respectively an elevation and plan of a form of cable gripping whichmight be used in connection with my improved system of operation; Fig.17, aside elevation ofasustaining-idler and supportingbracket. Fig. 18is a transverse section ot' one of the driving shafts, showing therock-lever, &c., of the friction-clutch; Fig. 19, a transverse sectionof the friction-clutch, hub of drivingpulley, and shaft.

In the practical use of my improved system of operating cable roads,either one of the plans illustrated in the tirst si\Y iigures maybeadopted, according to circumstances, all said plans, as well as othermoditications that may be made, embodying the essential feature of theuse of auxiliary or intermediate cables, to which the cars are attachedwhile both car and cable are at rest. i

The power cables P C, which transmit throughout the system the motiveforce derived from a stationary steam-engine or other source of power,may consist of a single endless cable mounted upon suitable pulleys,&c., in the usual manner, as we will suppose to be the case in Fig. 1,in which such power cable P C also acts as the traction-cable, to whichthe cars are attached direct. This plan answers very well in the case ofa bridge or other comparativelyY short lines of road having onlyterminal stations, in which case the latter are provided each with oneor more auxiliary cables, A C. The main or power cable P C' is runcontinuously, while the auxiliary cables A G are set in motion only forthe purpose of imparting the proper momentum to the cars preparatory toand for effecting their transfer to the main or traction cable l) C. Theauxiliary cables A C are supported upon suitable pulleys, a n', withintermediate idlervs, at', between, when necessary. One ofthe pulleys a,is frce to revolve upon its shaft under all circumstauces, while theother, a', is provided with a friction-clutch, F, or vother means forcoupling it to its shaft b in such manner that it will partake of themotion ofthe latter, and thereby impart motion to the cable A C. Thecable is allowed to sag slightly, so as to incline sufficiently neareach pulley a a to allow the idlers yi upon the under side of the cartopass under the cable horizontally, (as will be understood by referenceto Figs. 8, 11, and 12,) while the car is entering or leaving any ot'the lateral deviations D, formed in the rails at prescribed positions,for the double purpose otl carrying the gripping device G and sustainingidlers z' fi around the pulleys a a', and of obviating the necessity ofraising the cable mechanically into position within the grip. Thisfeature of feeding the grip to the cable iu contradstinction to the oldmethod of feeding the cable to the grip is a novel and valuable featureof my invention, since it not only enables me to dispense with allcable-elevating mechanism, but

also to render automatic the operations of uncoupling a car from oneVcable and recoupling it to another succeeding cable by the use ofsuitable tripping devices for loosening the grip at prescribed positionsin conjunction with the lateral deviations D in the track. As beforestated, the grip G may be of any snitable form` that shown in thedrawings being used simply by way of illustration, affording an exampleof a simple and effective construction of parts,consisting,cssentially,of the rigid jaws g g@ pivotally suspended from a bracket orhanger, H, upon the under side of the car. These jaws are forcedtogether to grip the cable by means of acani or eccentric, i., which isoperatedby a cani-rod, L, provided with a hand-lever, It, or equivalentdevice for controlling the position ol' the cam 7i from thecar-platform. The cam-rod Il is connected by a short crank arm, hwhile abell-crank lever, j, pivoted to the hanger J, is attached to the bottomof the car, the lower end of which bell-crank is preferably providedwith a friction-roller, j, for contact with the inclinedtrippingsurthces K K.' These latter are arranged between the rails atpoints at which itis designed to tighten or loosen the gripautomatically, and they effect either result bytheir inclination eitherto the rightor tothe left, as may be required. They may be iliade so asto be adjusted into or out of position, so that the grip may be eitheroperated automatically or from the car-platform by hand. Thus when thecnr is transferred to the portion of track coinciding with one of. theauxiliary cables A l in the drawings, the lateral deviation (similar tol) in Fig. ll) in the track carries, the idlcrs L' i and the lower jaw,g, of the grip G under the higher part of the cable just beyond IOS theupper periphery ofthe pulley (L, as illustrated in Fig. S, and the jawsf/ f/ are subsequently closed upon the cable, either by reason ofthelower end, j', of the bell-crank lever j coming in contact with aninclinedsurface, K, and thereby tripping the eccentric, or the sameresult is effected through the medium of the hand-lever 71%' fronrtheplatform of the car. In like manner after the auxiliary cable A C hasbeen started, and just before the wheels of the car have reached thelateral deviation D, that is to sluit the grip, &c., around the pulleysn a', the lower end of theleverj comesin contact with anoppositely-iuclincd trippingpiece, l, by which the grip is released,tobein turn applied, after the car-wheels have passed over the lateraldeviation l), by means ot' another inclined tripping-surface, K. eraldeviations l) in the tracks are not shown in the first six figures,owing to the smallness ofthe scale. Si nce as the deviations need neverThe lat- IIO exceed three or four inches in any case/,it will thepositions of the -rails with relation to the frictional band or clutch,o, is tightened or cable situated between them is in all casesprescribed by the position ofthe latter. For instance, the cable A C,Fig. 1l, is central between the preceding portion d d of the rails,andthe curves l 1 to the parallel portions 2 2 are slight, while thecurves 3 3, which connect the deviations D D with the succeedingportions d d of the line, are sutticicnt to compensate for thedifference in position between the first-named cable, A G, and the nextsucceeding cable, I C, andthus the same relative positions betweencables, tracks, grips, ne., is maintained throughout the system. Asbefore stated, the intermediate traction-cables, I

C, may also constitute the power-transmitting' cables I C, asillustrated in Figs. 2 and` 5, in which. case the auxiliary cable A C ateach station remains stationary when not in use,

while the combined traction and power cables I C P C travelcontinuously. In such case the. auxiliary cables A C, after the carhasbeen gripped thereto, are set in motion by means of a lever or similardevice, L, situated l upon' the station-platform or other convenient yplace by which the -friction-clutch F is connected with thedriving-pulley a', thereby causing the latter to revolve with the shaftb. As this latter pulley, a', is preferably of the same diameter asthose supporting and actuating the power and intermediatetractioncables, P C I C, the momentum acquired by the lcar before itstransfer to the next adjoining cable will be equal thereto, and the griphaving been loosened prior to the passage of the car over the lateraldevia-tion D, in order to clear the pulleys, as before set forth, thesubsequent rctightcning of the gripping device upon the traction-cable IG or P C will not be attended by anyjar or sudden strain ot' the car.The auxiliary cable A C after the departure is stopped by throwing thefriction-clutch out of engagement with the pulley a by means of thelever i; or otherwise. 4By way. of illustration, a form olfriction-clutch which might be used in carrying out my improved systemof operation is shown in Figs. 18 and 19, although other forms of clutchmay be substitut-ed without deviating from my invention. In theconstruction referred to, a

^ loosenedaround the hub of a driving-pulley, a', by means of a cam oreccentric, w, attached to one end of the lever w', the oppositeend ofwhich is heldin engagement with the laterallysliding cone u by means ofa spring, u', in such manner that the movement of the said conc alongthe shaft b rocks the cam w in one direction 'or the other, as the casemay be. The

Aadjustment of the amount of friction exerted When it is desired to runa car past certain .may also be provided with a frictional contact-.though other forms of apparatus may be eniployed for effecting theresult without deviating from `my invention. As shown, a T-lever, t, ispivoted in such relation to the clutch that its central arm, if, engageswith and controls the position ot' the clutching mechanism u. The arm t3of this T-lever is connected with a bell-crank lever, B,which issituated between the tracks in such position as to be acted upon by aprojection, C, upon the bottom ofthe car in such manner as to throw thefriction-clutch into connection with the wheel a', thereby starting thecable I O orP C. The bell-crank lever B should be placed'in suchrelation to the grip-tightening trip or incline surface K as to fullystart the cable I C previous to the application of the grip thereto; orthe latter operation may be effected by hand from the platform. At theother end of the intermediate traction-cable, I C, or I) C I C, as thecase may be, I arrangeasimilar bell-crank lever, B', connected with theother arm, t?, of the T-lever t, p inhsuch. manner that the projection Cupon the under side ot' the car, by coming in 'contact therewith, willreverse the T-lever t, .and disconnect the friction-clutch u from thepulley a', thereby stopping the cable. It is to be understood that thislatter bellcrank B is arranged to act after the grip has been loosenedfrom 4 the cable, either automatically or otherwise,so that the car isfree to pass over the lateral deviation D at that point. The bell-cranksB B" are preferably provided with friction-rollers for contact with theprojection C, which latter I IO roller. As before stated, the clutch Fmay be operated from the platform of astation by ,a suitable lever, L,and link I, and when the bell-cranks B B areused in connection with thesame clutch the link Z may be attached to an extension, t, of the levert. Since-the action of'starting the cable by means of the lever L willthus lower -the bell-crank B, the projections C will pass over the saidbell-crank withoutinterference, while the next bell-crank, B', at thesucceeding station will be in position to be operated upon by saidprojection C. This plan of stopping and starting the cable may be usedin conjunction with the auxiliary cables when it is not desired to stopat a sta` tion,as in the plans Fig`s.2 and 5,0rin like manner inconjunction with the series of intermediate traction-cables, I O,illustrated in Figs. 3 and 6, and it is alsoadapted to the purpose ofdisconnecting the driving-pulley preparatory to the passage of the cararound a curvey in the road, and again connecting it after the car IOChas reached the straight portion of track beyond the curve. Inprovidingfor thus disconnecting and reconnecting the driving-pulley with itsshaft, provision is also made for simultancously loosening andretightening the grip, as has heretofore been set forth, the objectbeing in each case to permit ol' the slowing up of the car while passingover comparatively short abrupt curves 5 but it is not invariablynecessary to resort to such means at curves in the road, since theparticular intermediate traction-cable covering that section of the roadmay, by suitable and well-known mechanical expedients that need notherein be specifically described, be made to travel at a comparativelyslow and safe speed, the idlerpulleys 7s 7a situated within the curvebeing horizontal and near the `shorter side of the curve in cach case,as indicated in Fig. 7, so that the grip G and idlers t' z' will clearthem in passing. It is to be not-iced that by the use of the idlers 'i iupon either side of the grip, I am enabled to loosen the latter and stopthe car,when necessary, at any point-upon the line Without loosening thecable, since the latter will pass freely over and be supported by theidlers and between the open jaws of the grip in such manner that thegrip can be reapplied, when desired. lVhere the power-cables P C arearranged between the tracks and so as to operate the traction-cables I Cupon each track, the direction of motion of the cables upon one side maybe reversed from that upon the other by crossing each intermediatepulley,P C,over a supplementary pulley, S, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

In the modified plan shown in Figs. 3 and 6, the intermediatetraction-cables, I C,Which are practically the auxiliary cables extendedto the next station, are mounted upon pulleys a and a', and may beoperated intermittently in precisely the same manner and by the samemeans as the said auxiliary cables, excepting that whereas the lattertransfer the carto a moving cable the intermediate cables in such easetransfer the car to a succeeding cable which is stationary for the timebeing.

It is to be understood that While I have thus set forth a practicablemeans of carrying out my improved system sufficient to enable othersskilled in such matters to construct and operate a railroad according tomy invention, I do not limit myself strictly to the special forms orconstruction of apparatus herein shown.

"What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. In a system of operating railroads by means of cables, substantiallyin the manner set forth, the combination, with cars provided withsuitable eablegripping mechanism and with a main or carrier cable, of anauxiliary or starting cable, provided with means, substantially such asdescribed, for stopping and starting it and causing it to attain a speedequal to that of the said main or carrying cable, substantially in themanner and for the purpose described.

2. In a system of operating railroads by means ol" cables, substantiallyas set forth, one or more intermediate conveying-cables between stationsor termini, in combination with auxiliary start i ng-cables arranged atthe intermediate stations or termini, substantiallyiu the manner and forthe purpose described.

3. In a system of operating railroads by means of cables, substantiallyin' the manner set forth, the means hereinshown and described forstopping and starting the cables, in combination with the lateraldeviations'in the track, substantially in the manner and for the purposedescribed.

et. In a system 01' operating railroads by means of cables,substantially in the manner and for the purpose described, the meansherein shown and described for automatically loosening or tightening thecable-gripping device upon the car, in combination with the lateraldeviation in .the track, substantially in the manner and for the purposedescribed.

5. In a system of operating railroads by means of cables, substantiallyin the manner and for the purpose described, the means, substantiallysuch as described, for automatically bringing the parts into properrelative position for engaging and disengaging the cable, consisting ofthe grip and idlers upon the car in combination with the lateraldeviations in the track and the elevated and inclined portion of thecable, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

G. In a system of operating railroads by ICO means of cables,substantially in the manner and for the purpose described, thecombination, with the gripping mechanism, of the cable-supporting idlersupon the car, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

JOHN SFEWAR". Vitnesscs:

\VM. GARDNER, Guo. XV. Mm'r'r.

